BANGALORE: The Karnataka government has begun discussions with airline companies to operate flights from the new Mysore airport.

The airport is set for inauguration on September 15, and the Director General of Civil Aviation is stated to have permitted an inaugural flight on that day.

Runway lengthening

Given the length of the runway of the new airport which is 1.7 km, only aircraft of the size of ATR-72 (which can carry up to 70 passengers) and smaller aircraft can operate from there. The State government and the Centre are scheduled to announce the upgrading of the runway to 2.4 km, following which bigger aircraft (A-320) can operate from Mysore.

It is a wholly government-owned airport compared to the new airports which are being constructed under public-private partnership. The airport terminal has been designed for a 200-passenger peak-hour load (100 passengers who arrive and 100 passengers who leave).

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who inspected the final touches being given for commencement of flight operations at the Mysore airport recently, is said to have urged Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel to enable flights to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi from Mysore at the earliest.

The State government has exuded confidence that the Mysore airport will have a good response since it will serve passengers not merely from the southern hinterland of the State, but also from the Wayanad region of Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. This is the first airport in a tier-two city of Karnataka being commissioned in recent years, and the nearest airports to Mysore are in Coimbatore and Bangalore. The Bengaluru International Airport commenced operations in May 2008.

Sources in the State government told The Hindu that the Airports Authority of India, which constructed the new airport, had applied to the DGCA to grant clearances for commercial flight operations, and given the detailed procedures involved in the latter giving its approval, full-fledged operations from Mysore airport were set to commence by mid-October.